Sanitary roll-towel cabinet



July 24, 1928.

Filed Oct. 18, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f 119- Z ,Z 171,3. 1

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July 24, 1928.

E. T. HAILS SANITARY ROLL TOWEL CABINET Filed Oct. 18, 1925 2Sheets-Sheet Uw r V w am@ d W 3l 4 8 M f.. 2 3 2 o ./M d w m m M n/.U\ u@w m M m Fm M m u M a 6 M fb? Z 2 d Patented July 24,1928.

PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED STATES EDWARD TROY HAILS, 0F MONTGOMERY,

ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR TO STEINEB SALES lCOMIIPANY, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH,A CORPORATION 0F UTAH.

SANITARY :ROLL-TOWEL CABINET.

Application illed October 18, 1923. Serial No. 669,333.

My invention relates to 'certain new and useful improvements in sanitaryroll towel cabinets of the class in which a clean towel roll and asoiled towel take-up roll are so mounted and controlled in the cabinetas to maintain the desired service loop of towel exposed. l

There are certain considerations which are of prime importance in theroduction of a roll towel cabinet which will meet the requirements ofthe public as well as of those furnishing the cabinets. Theseconsiderations briefly stated are lst: The cabinet should prevent theunlimited withdrawal of clean towel by an individual user.

2nd: The soiled towel should be automati- 'cally rewound after use sothat it will not remain visible and hence the next user will not need totouch or to grasp it to change the towel, nor will he have any need toattempt to pull out clean towel but only to use that already exposed.

3rd: The most satisfactor conditions will obtain if mechanism, whic isvery simple and inexpensive in its nature, can be provided which willrewind into the cabinet the soiled towel in the service loopautomatically as soon as a user leav s the cabinet.

4th: It must be ve y simple and easy to load the cabinet.

In accomplishin the-objects above in the manner preferred utilizeautomatic mechanism preferably set by the Weight of the towel user andadapted when released to rewind the used or soiled towel out of positionto be grasped or seen by the next user. This automatic operation of therewind may bring the soiled towel to the rear of the clean towel, butpreferably the soiled towel is rewound into the front portion of thecabinet, thus not leaving any soiled towel in the service loop. Thepreferred means for accomplishing the automatic disposition of thesoiled towel is similar to that described in my pending application,Serial No. 644,554, filed June 11th, 1923, but here I provide a weightoperated spring retracted one way ratchet drive which acts only upon itsrelease from the control of a users weight and responsive to its springretraetor to effect the rewind of the soiled towel after the user hasstepped away from the cabinet.

For the purpose of simplifying the cabinet mechanism the rolls are soarranged that they are inserted and removed through the front of thecabinet, the clean towel roll being mounted preferably in a hinged framewhich can be swung out in front of the cabinet to hold the clean towelroll while threading the towel in its uides. Further by passing thesoiled towe up behind the door, I can provide a partition between whichand the closed door the soiled towel will be mped fiat as it is drawn upto the rewind ro Another distinctive feature of my invention lies in theprovision of a hinged apron, or board, dependent from the front of thecabinet, which in addition to carrying a notice for the user to stand ona depressible platform, serves the added purpose of enabling a greateramount of towel to be used in the service loop without all being exposedto view. In other words, I can provide in the service loop 18 to 24inches of towel with only about 12 inches exposed below the apron, butthe guard being hinged can be drawn up with the towel, thus making thefull length of the loop available for drying both face and hands whilereducing to a minimum the amount of fresh towelling exposed for eachservice use.

My invention also comprises the novel detalls of construction andarrangements of parts, which in their preferred embodiment only areillustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part of thisspecification, and in which Fig, 1 is a front elevation of my improvedroll towel cabinet with its stand and depressible platform.

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. l taken on the line 2-2 and showing theouter end wall of the cabinet removed.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section enlarged through the cabinet, thedotted lines showing the clean towel roll hanger swung out in dottedlines in position to hold the roll while loading the cabinet. y

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse cross-section broken away and showing infront elevation the towel rolls and their driving mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the one way ratchet sprocket.

Fig. 6 is a detail view showing a springpressed friction roll co-actingwith the clean towel feed roll.

. mounted in operating position. The stand,

as shown, comprises two vertical back legs 1 which are suitably attachedto or built into the back wall of the towel cabinet 2 and each at itsbottom end is connected to -a forwardly extending base bar 3, a brace 4bein provided from each leg to its respec tive ar. The forward ends ofthe bars 3 receive pivots 5 for hingedly mounting between them aplatform 6, which is of such size and so disposed that one seeking touse the towel will have to stand thereon and depress it by his or herweight. The plat-v form at its rear end has a rod or bar 8 whichprojects behind the left hand leg 1 and is there connected to a cord,chain, or a suitable iexible connection 9 which works in a channel orgroove 10 cut in the back face `of said leg and preferably enclosed by acover or plate 11. This cord 9 at its up er end enters a compartment 12formed' etween the left hand end wall 13 of the cab` inet and a parallelvertical inside partition 14 extending from front to rear of thecabinet. Between the partition 14 and theother end wall 15 of thecabinet is formed the main compartment for the reception of the towelrolls.- Access to this main compartment is had through a front door'l,the narrow compartment 12 bein closed in front by a wall 17. Thepartition 14 is cut away to receive Hush therewith a metallic bearingplate 18 which is suitably connected through spacer elements to the endwall 13, and a similar bearing plate 18 is attached directly t0 theouter end wall 15. These bearing plates are provided with oppositealigning top slots 19 opening through the upper ends of the plates andextending down vertically to a point near their middle portions wherethe plates are provided with aligning holes to receive the axis 20 ofthe upper feed roll 21. This axis projects at one end into thecompartment 12 and has fast thereon a gear 22 and the driven member 23of a one waysprocket clutch 24. This sprocket clutch is conventionallyillustrated and may be of any suitable type of one way clutch. As shown,the inner member is formed as a ratchet wheel which is engaged by thespring-pressed pawl 25 carried by the sprocket 23 which turns freely onthe roll axis. A sprocket chain 26 is mounted over the sprocket wheel,its forward end being connected to a coil spring 27 attached to thecabinet at or near the bottom of the compartment 12, and its rear endbeing connected to the upper end of the ull cord of chain 9 so thatitwill act bot to retract the ratchet pawl and raise the platform whenreleased of a user-s weight'. A lower feed roll 28 is also mounted inthe bearing plates.18 adjacent to the roll 21 and its axis at one endprojects into the compartment 12 and has fast thereon a gear 29 similarto and meshing the gear 22 on the axis of the roll 21'. I pivotallymount on the lower end of each bearing plate 18 afriction roll carryingarm 30, which arms havenjournaled in their free ends a cross shaft 31which carries a friction -roll 32 of rubber or like friction material.

A coil spring 33 connected at one end to its respective bearing plateand at the other end to its respective friction roll arm 30, serves topress the friction roll against the lower feed roll 28. The bearingplates at their centers midway between the feed rolls are widened fromfront to rear and provided with spaced lugs 34 forming guides to receivea slide 35 carrying at its forward end a depending towel pressing apron36 which in operating position will stand parallel with and in closejuxtaposition to the insideface of the closedv door 16, a stop 37 behindthe apron holding it in position to leave just enough space betweenapron and door for the soiled towel, as it is drawn up between the two,to be ironed or straightened out between them. The feed rolls 21 and 28may have any desired `friction surface.

A soiled towel roll 38 is adapted to be mounted in the slots 19 in thetop of the bearing plates 18 and is thus disposed in the upper portionof the cabinet above lthe slide 35. Ample clearance is left for the rollto be inserted from the front and dropped into the slots. A clean towelroll 39 is adapted to be mounted in the lower ortion of the cabinet.Preferably I use bail-like hangers 40 pivotally attached to the bottom41 of the cabinet and adapted to be swung outwardly in front of thecabinet when the door is open so that the ends of the axis of the cleantowel roll can be readily mounted in the loops or eyes 42 at the freeends of the bail hanger by swinging the latter slightly apart and thussupported while the towel is being threaded in place, after' which thehanger is swung over and the clean towel roll falls inwardly and restsfreely on the bottom of the cabinet. The bottom of the cabinet has arear transverse slot 43 through which the .clean towel is fed out of theservice loop and a front slot 44 through which the soiled towel whilethe hanger is projecting from the cabinet the free end of the towel ispassed upwardly between the friction roll 32 and the lower feed roll 28and then over and down through the rear slot 43 in the cabinet bottom.The amount of clean towel desired to be exposed is left in the serviceloop 45 and to com lete threading it in position is drawn olf t e cleantowel roll which is then swung into position in the bottom of thecabinet, the end of the towel being threaded up through the front slot44 and passed up-V wardly over the apron 36 and connected to the soiledtowel roll 38. This roll is then dropped into the slots 19 of thebearing plates and the front door is closed forming the outer pressingmember which co-acts with the apron 36 to press and straighten out thesoiled towel.

A board or apron 46 is pivotally connected to the front edge of thebottom of the cabinet so as to hang down and cover about 6 inches of thetowel service loop. This apron will bear suitable notice printed orotherwise displayed thereon to inform the user that he must stand uponthe platform 6 when using-the towel. This apron is free to swing up asthe towel loop is drawn upwardly in wiping the face but will drop downand cover any portion of the soiled towel that is not fully withdrawninto the cabinet after the rewind operation. It is to be noted that thetowel is so mounted that a pull on the front of the service loop willnot draw oit' any towel from the soiled roll as the latter is preventedfrom any reverse rotation by the ratchet clutch.. This makes itimpossible for the user to pull out any towel or change the length ofthe service loop.

In the use of the cabinet, the operation is as follows. The user stepson the platform 6, his weight depressing the latter and causing the cord9 to be drawn downwardly and the sprocket chain to be drawn rearwardly,bringing the coil spring 27 under tension. The ratchet sprocket movesfree of the feed roll 21 as it rotates in this direction only and hencethe towel is not moved. So long as the user remains on the platform thecoil spring 27 is held under tension and the clutch holds the upper feedroll 21 so that the towel cannot be pulled down or changed at all. Themoment the user steps olf of the platform, the coil spring 27 retractsthe sprocket chain and as the resulting rotation of the sprocket willclutch it to the shaft of the feed roll 21, the latter is rotated and bymeans of the meshing gears 22 and 29 both feed rolls are rotated inreverse directions. This acts positively to draw up, by the co-action ofthe feed roll 21 and the soiled towel roll 38 and rewind on the latter,the desired amount of soiled towel, say 12 inches, and at the same timethe co-action of the lower feed roll 28 and its respective friction roll32 will draw 'off from the loose clean towel roll the same amount ofclean towel which will pass down to .the service loop at the rear. Itthus follows that when the next user approaches only clean towel isexposed and there is no soiled towel in the service loop at all. Thisavoids any conditionsunder which it is necessa for the user to touch thesoiled towel, ma es it impossible for'the user to draw all by a pull onthe towel any amount from the towel rolls in the cabinet, and makes thechange of the towel automatic and immediate after each use of the towel.

Obviously the weight depressed platform 6 is typical of any means whichwill respond automatically to the departure of a user to effect therewind of the soiled towel.

Though I have described with great particularity the 'details of theembodiment of the invention herein shown, it is not to be construed thatI' am limited thereto, as changes in arrangement and substitution ofequivalents maybe made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A. roll towel cabinet having a clean towel roll in its bottomportion, a soiled towel roll in its upper portion, feed rolls connectedtogether for simultaneous movement, one of said feed rolls being infrictional engagement with the towel of the soiled towel roll, thetoweling from the clean towel roll passing to the rear of the cleantowel roll, thence downwardly and upwardly in front of the clean towelroll to the soiled towel roll, an apron in front of the clean towel rollhaving a groove therein and a door outside the apron, the constructionbeing such that the clean towel roll may be first inserted in thecabinet, the towel threaded over a roller and thence downwardly throughthe loop and said groove, thence upwardly in front of the clean towelroll and around the other roll onto the soiled towel roll.

2. A towel cabinet having means to hold a clean towel supply therein, asoiled towel roll on which the soiled towel is taken up. friction feedrolls over one of which feed rolls the clean towel extends and on theother of which the soiled towel roll rests for frictional rotation, saidfriction feed rolls hav` ing the same circumferential movement wherebyone always feeds out the same amount of toweling that the other takesup, gearing between the friction rolls, energy storing means connectedto said gearing wherein the energy may be stored and automaticallyreleased as the user leaves the cabinet and when released operates thefriction roll on which the soiled towel roll reststo operate the same todraw into the cabinet the soiled portion of the towel that has been fedout by the other friction roll.

3. A towel cabinet having a lower portion adapted to hold a clean towelsupply andan upper port-ion into which the soiled toweling is ed, asoiled towel roll in the upper comartment and a friction feed roll onwhich 1t rests as the soiled toweling is wound-on the soiled towel roll,said cabinet also having in its lower portion a friction feed roll forfeeding out the clean toweling, gearing between the friction feed rollsand energy storing mechanism operable by the user as he reaches thecabinet and automatically releasable as he leaves the cabinet, saidenergy storing mechanism being connected with said friction feed rollsand operable when released to store the soiled toweling on the soiledtowel feed roll.

4. A towel cabinet having a slot in its side and adapted to hold a cleantowel su ply and a soiled towel roll journaled in t 1e slot in the sideof the cabinet a soiled towel friction feed roll on which the soiledtowel roll rests, a clean towel feed roll with gearing between thesoiled towel feed roll and the clean towel feed roll, an energy storingdevice operable b the user and automatically. released as t e userleaves the cabinet to rotate the soiled towel feed roll on which thesoiled towel roll rests to take up the soiled portion of the towelingthat has been fed out by the. feed roll intergeared therewith.

5. A towel cabinet comprising means for holding aclean towel supply anda, soiled towel roll, clean and soiled towel feed rolls mounted in saidcabinet between the clean towel supply and said soiled towel roll, thesoiled towel roll being supported by one of said feed rolls which .arein frictional conl tact respectively with the clean and soiled web,energy storing means operable by the user as he reaches the cabinet andreleased as he leaves the cabinet to operate the soiled towel feed rolland wind a length of soiled web thereon, said feed rolls beingintergeared and one roll being rotated clockwise and the other counterclock-wise to feed the clean web from the towel supply and Wind up thesoiled web on the towel roll.

In testimon whereof I aiiix my sifrnature.

DWARD TROY HILS.

